Couple nears finish in 50-state marathon goal

Oct. 13, 2011 - 01:58PM
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Last Updated: Oct. 13, 2011 - 01:58PM |

Col. John Teyhen and his wife, Lt. Col. Deydre Teyhen, will accomplish their goal of running a marathon in all 50 states. The Army couple, based at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, will reach this milestone at the ING Hartford Marathon in Connecticut. ()

Army Col. John Teyhen and his wife, Lt. Col. Deydre Teyhen, are on the verge of accomplishing their joint goal of running a marathon in all 50 states at the ING Hartford Marathon in Connecticut on Oct. 15.

"These little weekends help us stay balanced as a couple," said Deydre, commander of Public Health Command Region-South.

Meeting their goal will be a relief, said John, director of the Center for Health Education and Training at the Army Medical Department Center and School.

The Teyhens married in 1997 after meeting while deployed to Bosnia. They began running marathons together in 2000.

Deydre, who now averages 3 hours, 30 minutes per marathon, said she never ran more than the 2 miles required in the Army physical fitness test until the couple moved to Washington, D.C.

"Our days were really long in D.C., and when you work a 10-hour day and it was an hour commute each way and John would want to go for a run — if I wanted to spend time with my husband, I had to start running, too," she said.

The couple ran the Marine Corps Marathon in 2000 — Deydre's first. They slowly began racking up the marathons until they realized they had run in 10 states, the minimum required to become members of the 50 States Marathon Club. The ING Hartford will be Deydre's 55th marathon and John's 64th.

But they're not done running yet.

"Our goal after this is 100 marathons and on all seven continents," Deydre said.